Francisco Rodríguez Pinedo

Francisco Javier Rodríguez Pinedo is a professional football player playing for VfB Stuttgart, a German Bundesliga club. This Mexican football defender was born on 10th of October 1981 in Mazatlan, Mexico. At 6'3, Maza, as he is known as, played with teams like Guadalajara, PSV, VfB Stuttgart and Mexico national football team.

His professional career began with the team of Guadalajara, debuting for this club during the Apertura tournament in 2002. In 2006, he helped the team tie the final match, with Chivas winning 2-1 against Toluca and helping Chivas win the eleventh championship in the Primera Division de Mexico.

Maza got transferred to on 9th May 2008 for 1.8 million dollars to PSV Eindhoven, a Dutch club. He started his debut season on the bench most of the times, proving to be an alternation as one of the two center backs like Dirk Marcellis. His first foal was on 25th November 2008 with the Dutch giants, with a blistering 30 yard shot. This match was played exclusively against Heracles Almelo. He plays with the number 4 jersey, previously worn by Manuel da Costa, who got transferred to ACF Fiorentina in January 2008.

On 14 July 2011, Francisco signed a 3 year contract with the team of VfB Stuttgart, scoring his first goal on his debut match in 14-0 victory game. He made his Bundesliga debut as well with a 3-0 victory against Schalke 04 on 6th August 2011.

With right to his international career, Rodriguez was part of the Mexican 2004 Olympic football team, that exited in the first round, finishing third in group A, below group winners, South Korea and Mali. He played one game in the World Cup in 2006 against Portugal. Moreover, he was a part of the Mexico squad that participated in the FIFA World Cup in 2010 in South Africa.